12 moments in anime #4: There’s always more to watch

Spurned on by the combination of the brilliance that was this years Eden of the East and the ingenuity of the Ghost in the Shell movie, I finally got around to watching Ghost in the Shell:Stand Alone Complex this year. For the record, I prefered Eden of the East mainly because of the annoying level of inconsistency in GITS:SAC. But it was still fantastic enough to break into my top 20, one of only 3 series I watched this year to achieve that (the others being Akira and Eden, although I’m not counting Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood in there because I group it with the first series because they are just about equal). However there was a slight panic when I finished Ghost in the Shell. This was the last ‘great’ series I had watched. All the other great anime series I had seen. Cowboy Bebop, Full Metal Alchemist, Neon Genisis Evangelion, Death Note, Samurai Champloo and so on. I had this genuine fear that I had seen the last great series.

This might require a bit of backstory. I’m a member of the youtube generation of anime fans, only starting to watch anime in mid-2007. Oh boy, did I shoot through series at an alarming rate. In the space of about a year I shot through around 100 anime series. When you start watching anime obviously your eye is drawn to the popular and the highly rated series. You gradually begin to learn what are the must-watch series and since anime is still so new you can’t help but fly through these and acquire more and more. This year though, I’ve found myself glancing over my shoulder at that beast known to the world as ‘The Burnout’.

It’s not as though I’m in any danger of burning out myself. I still love anime to bits and have never gotten tired of the stuff. But the idea that one day I will no longer enjoy watching anime is a bit of an irrational fear of mine. I find myself dropping series at an alarming rate through the fear that the chore of watching an average series will dampen my enthusiasm. One of the odder things I did was ‘save’ classic anime so if I ever felt the presence of a burnout there would always be something left in reserve that’s virtually guaranteed to combat it. But the press of the likes Cowboy Bebop proved far too great. It wasn’t until I finished watching Ghost in the Shell did I realise that I had completely drained my stock of sure-fire hits. So I went to My Anime List and starting skimming down through the top rated and most popular anime to find something to keep in reserve.

In the end I made myself a list (because I’m weird like that) of series I should watch if I feel in danger of a burnout.

Legend of the Galactic Heroes

Gankutsoh

Akagi

Wolf’s Rain

X

Gundam Seed

Crest of the Stars

Escaflowne

Beserk

Gunbuster

Mononoke

Gungrave

Toward the Terra

Ergo Proxy

Hellsing

Hell Girl

Detroit Metal City

Revolutionary Girl Utena

Aria

Phantom

Kemonozyne

.Hack//Sign

Higurashi

Hajime no Ippo

Laputa

5cm per Second

ef – A Tale of Memories

Ichigo Marshmallow

Big Windup

Macross

Hidimari Sketch

R.O.D TV

Shigofumi

Eyeshield 21

Touch

Paradise Kiss

Saikano

Chrono Crusade

Nana

Oh Edo Rocket

Getbackers

Boogiepop Phantom

Now and Then, Here and There

Gantz

Rozen Maiden

Ghost Hunt

Hikaru no Go

Bokurano

Shakugan no Shana

One Piece

My moment in anime #4: The day I realised there will always be more to watch.

Eden was certainly inconsistent but nothing compared to GITS. One laughing man episode would blow me away while the next tatchkoma episode would annoy me. If every episode was a good as the laughing man episodes, GITS would sit in my top 5.

Haha! I think you’ll see that the more anime you watch, the larger your list will grow. A truly strange phenomenon.

I think if you pace yourself, stick to your trusted recommendations, and are open to surprises while still being a little discriminating with new seasons and whatnot, you’ll keep the burnout monster at bay for a good while. Works for me at least.

I recall I heard someone(ling time ago)sais that another way to heal ‘anime burnout’is to stop watching anime for a short period and the hunger for anim will automatically rekindle. Anyway, those anime in the list are generally good-great anime :)

When people talk about ‘clearing their backlog’ I just look on in total confusion. It would take me 2-3 years to clear my backlog, providing I didn’t watch anything airing weekly and didn’t go on the interwebs and find new shows to watch.

@Super Noodles

I’ve seen the OVA and..well, I was hardly blown away but mainly because I felt it would work better as a TV series. Hence why it’s on the list

@blindability

Hey, I like sports! :( It would be a relief to watch a sports anime that’s NOT about baseball

@Canne

Stop…watching…anime? My brain cannot comprehend that suggestion so I shall pretend it does not exist

@heyheyho

Monster I watched recently and I liked it, especially Johan, but it got sidetracked so easilly and that annoyed me quite a bit. Kaiba, on the other hand, is one of my all time favourites.

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